Kyoto Schoolkids Organize Environment Conference
--Awata Elementary School--
Pupils at an elementary school in the city of Kyoto--where a very important conference on global warming was held from December 1 to 11--have been making a concerted effort to preserve the environment.
These activities by the students at the Awata Elementary School actually started way before the climate conference. They held a schoolwide environment meeting in June 1996 to discuss ways to cut down on garbage, and in November 1997 they organized another meeting to raise awareness of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
They've also been making a conscious effort in their daily lives to help preserve the environment. They've been closing the tap tightly after washing their hands so that water isn't wasted. They regularly pick up the litter around the Shirakawa River, which runs near the school. And they've been carrying out research on how much trash is discarded on the streets around the school.
The students have also been issuing a monthly environmental newsletter in which they report on their environmental activities. As the students got to know more about the environment, they became more interested in the subject, and more and more of them signed up to become members of the Kids' Eco Club; in 1997, all 115 students at the school were enrolled as members!
When they learned about the Kyoto climate conference--formally called the Third Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change--the students came up with an idea of holding a global warming conference of their own. The meeting was held on November 5, about a month before the U.N. conference.
A number of pupils formed a drama group called Earth Friend to perform a skit at the meeting. Entitled "Eco-man and CO2-man," the skit was selected from among several plays written by fifth and six graders. It was a two-act play written by a fifth grader. The meeting also featured a discussion among all the students on how they would try to stop global warming.
To cut down on the use of electricity during summertime, one pupil proposed taking cold showers instead of turning on the air conditioner. Another said he would cut down on the number of hours he used the TV for home video games. And a third said, "We've got to grow more plants because they can absorb the carbon dioxide that causes global warming."
At the end of the meeting, they all pledged to reduce their use of air conditioners, rely less on the family car, play video games less, and not generate so much trash.
One student commented that she hoped that the school would host another environmental meeting next year.
Photos: (From top) Club members gather for their conference; cheaning up the river; the monthly newsletter is full of info; the environmental skit was a hit. (Awata Elementary School)
